


The VALE

by 24hourprince



Category: Hunt Down The Freeman (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, accelerated healing, superpower au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:22:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29639445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/24hourprince/pseuds/24hourprince
Summary: AU where Mitch and Adam (and Adrian) were experimened on in The Facility run by The Gman and have advanced healing factors. Nick works for VALE, Various (super)Abilities Liberation and Extraction, an organization formed to stop metahuman experimentation and help them adapt to the outside world.
Relationships: Mitchell Shepherd/Adam/Nick
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	The VALE

"Wait! hold a second!" Nick struggles to restrain the man he is currently patching up as gently as possible with his tendrils so the man doesn't rip out his iv. "Let me finish these last few stitches done and, I'll take out your iv. I promise." 

The man at least physically settles down but instead starts letting out his aggression verbally. 

"Why the hell are you even trying to patch me up, my healing factor is-" 

"Shut the fuck up I know what I'm doing. If not these injuries would be taking days not hours to heal from." Nick continues to stitch up the "wound", a fully detached arm. "And before you ask, the fluid in the iv is to just help you regain fluids so you don't have that dreaded post healing handover. It's more or less juiced up gatorade. Although your friend over there also had a mild sedative in his because decapitation isn't fun to heal from." 

"How the fuck are you even, like, able to stitch me up?" The man asks, perplexed. "Shouldn't it be impossible?" 

"What? No! There is a Special needle and a special technique, but it far from impossible. I should be able to cut the stitches out by tonight." Nick responds, finishing up the stitch. "I work with people with high healing factors all the fucking time. I know what does and doesn't work." He stands back up and stretches, back loudly popping as he does. "Let me get this iv out and you should be able to like, sit up. But I would wait like, 30 minutes before you try to walk on your own if I were you. Your legs were kinda mangled." 

"Why are you doing this?" The man asks, not looking at Nick.

"Because it's the right thing to do. Like yeah you could like, heal on your own or whatever. But you are going to feel like absolute shit for the next week. Like this you should be right as rain by tomorrow." Nick says as he pulls out the iv. 

"Who are you?" The man asks.

"I'm Nick, I work for VALE I was tasked with investigating the facility you two were at when I ran across you two in the middle of the fucking desert. Chopped to bits. Called off the mission for now, and grabbed you two and brought you back to my place. I'm supposed to take you two to HQ tomorrow. Just for statements, and assistances into re-joining the world outside that hellhole. If the man we rescued last time is to be believed, which, seeing how you two were. I do, wholeheartedly." He gets up, walking over to the other man's iv drip before swapping it for another bag. "I should ask you the same. And before you ask. I'm just giving him more of the same fluids as I gave you, just without the sedative this time. He should be up in about an hour."

"I'm…" The man looks up at the ceiling, as if he's searching his thoughts. "I'm Adam. I... haven't been able to use my real name in  _ years _ . I'm just a code to them. Feels nice to actually say it to someone new."

"Well then, Adam, what would you want to eat? I'm hungry and I'm betting you are too." Nick says, pulling off his gloves and washing his hands in the ensuite bathroom. Now that Adam thinks about it, he really just is on a cot in a spare bedroom. It's old and cheaply made but nicer than the slabs they have at the facility by a long shot. 

"I've been dreaming about pizza since I was first put in that place." Adam says, staring off into the distance.

"Pizza it is " Nick says, tapping a few things onto his phone. "Here, order whatever you want. And also whatever you think he would like. Go all out. I'm going to grab us something to drink, you want water or a soda or something?"

"God. I would  _ die _ for a cherry pepsi right now" Adam almost whines.

"Well that's not necessary because I  _ should _ have one in my fridge." Nick says with a laugh. "I'll be right back." 

Adam takes better inventory of his surroundings. It looks like a somewhat recently emptied room, indents in the carpet from old furniture still present, but a slight layer of dust covering everything else. A second cot, where his partner was resting only a few feet away. He is in his underwear but is covered by a thin sheet, makes sense, his uniform from before is probably mangled trash. 

Nick comes back, three bottles of water and a can of cherry pepsi in his hands.

"Pick out what you wanted?" Nick says placing the other drinks on the small folding table in-between the cots. Before opening and handing Adam the can.

"Yeah, here." Adam says, moving his least damaged arm to grab it. Realizing how the dried blood mixed with sand on him moves with a sickening crunch. Cringing at the sound. 

Nick, noticing his discomfort, adds, "Once you finish that. You should be fine to shower, if you want. I'll just have to help you walk to the bathroom. I already have a chair in there so you don't have to stand. Good thing about your healing factor is you don't have to cover your stitches when you shower." 

Adam hums while drinking his soda. He hasn't had a shower that wasn't the low pressure, short time span situation they had at the facility since he got there. He didn't realize how much he missed a warm shower with soap that doesn't smell like disinfectant until now.

"That would be nice actually." He can feel himself let his guard down, despite what his anxiety says, for the first time in years.

Despite the awkwardness of having to be partly carried to the bathroom, only a few feet away. He took his time, and the shower helped Adam feel better than he was expecting it would. It felt nice to smell like something that wasn't just sweat and gore and sand, or disinfectant for once. 

Nick placed a change of clothes for him on the cabinet. An old loose fitting t-shirt and a pair of sweats.

Testing his leg, he gets up to the bathroom without much issue, until he walks out the bathroom and hears yelling. 

"Who are you!  _ Where _ am I!  **What did you do to my partner!** " He hears being yelled. 

Adam walks out to the bathroom to see Nick trying to hold the other man down. "Calm the fuck down! Let me explain myself!" Nick replied back.

Adam clears his throat, and the man instantly stops fighting. "Mitch, calm down, he's just trying to help" Adam says plainly. 

"I would still like an explanation to why I'm here." The man, Mitch apparently, asks again, still annoyed.

"Oh. So you're Mitch I've heard all about? This makes it easier. I'm, Nick, I work with VALE I had a tip from a former resident of the facility, an Adrian? To scout the location, and I found you two, outside, mangled to bits. Brought you back to my place, Supposed to take you to HQ tomorrow." 

"Wait, did you say Adrian?" Mitchell's expression completely changes.

"Yeah." Nick responds.

"Fuck, thank god he got out safe?" The anger on his voice ebbs away. "Can, can I see him?" 

"Tomorrow, yes, but not tonight. But I can call him now if you would like?" Nick says grabbing his phone.

"That would be great, yeah." Mitch says almost surprised.

"Sure, give me a second…" Nick taps his phone a few times, before putting it to his ear. "Hey, What? No I wasn't able to, I'm sorry. But I do have some good news, here, let me hand it over." He says before thrusting the phone onto Mitchell's hands.

"Adrian? Is that really you? I thought I would never hear from you again!"

A doorbell rings, and Nick excuses himself with a whispered "It's just the pizza, I'll give you two some time."

Nick slips out the room, grabbing his wallet by the door, and playing for the pizza. Waiting a few before grabbing yet another small folding table and some plates before knocking in the spare bedroom door. walking in after Adam responds with "Come in."

"Yes Adrian, I'm fine now, I promise. All my limbs are attached, somehow… Yeah yeah, he's back, he brought us pizza? Yes, I know I should eat.  _ I'm _ the older brother you don't need to… Fucking fine. I'll see you tomorrow alright? Love you Adrian." Mitch hangs up the phone before handing back over to Nick.

"Sorry about… earlier." Mitch rubs the back of his head. "And thank you. For helping me, and my partner, and my brother. I guess I owe you."

"You had every right to be angry." Nick says placing the food down. "You suddenly woke up somewhere new with a stranger leaning over you pulling an iv out of your arm and your partner nowhere to be seen. Pretty sure most people would be angry about that." He punctuates with a shrug. "You two should really eat" 

"Yeah, fuck. We have had pizza in, what? 5 years?" Mitch replies as he grabs a plate. "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to eat for a few days. Is that why I have stitches on my neck?" Mitch goes to touch the stitches but stops himself.

"Yeah. helps speed up your already high healing factor, do does the iv I was taking out as you woke up." Nick explains in-between bites. "If regular stitches were a cast, this would be a splint. Just enough to keep stuff together, also cleaning out the wounds so the body doesn't have to focus on keeping infection out was an important factor." 

"We were just told to suck it up and heal on our own" Mitch says with a laugh until he sees Nick's concerned expression. "Is... that not normal?"

Nick shakes his head. "You deserve to be patched up like everyone else is, just because you have to go about it differently doesn't mean you should suffer alone." 

"Huh." Mitch looks down at his plate.

"Huh." Adam echos.

There is a slight awkward silence, before Nick clears his throat and asks, "You said you two were partners, do you mean like…" 

"Yes." Adam responds, "Yes to both."

"Good." Nick huffs a laugh. "I don't want any heterosexuals in my house. If you want, you two can use my bed and I can sleep on one of the cots for the night. If you want. Give you two a little more room. Although I would prefer you shower first, Mitch. Rather not have my bed covered in dry blood and sand." 

Mitch weighed the guilt of inconveniencing Nick even more versus actually sleeping in a real bed for once in 5 years. "Sure, why not." he eventually responds, before guilt sets in more. 

"Cool, after we eat, and you shower. I'll show you two around the house." Nick says with a lopsided smirk.

Nick walks them around the house, explaining that he used to have roommates a few months ago but, for security reasons, they had to move out. So Nick lives alone in the 3 bedroom house, that luckily, his job pays enough so he can keep it, before showing them to his room.

"It's not much, but it  _ has _ to be better than those cots." Nick shrugs.

"Fuck, thank you again, Nick. For everything." Mitch starts to say until he is cut off by a yawn.

"No problem, let me grab myself a pillow and a blanket and I'll leave you two to settle in for the night." Nick says grabbing what he needs. "We have to head to HQ pretty early tomorrow. Pretty sure I'm in hot water for not bringing you two in today, but, I didn't want to risk going that far, and my place was closer." He turns to leave. "Sleep well you two." 

Mitch and Adam are left alone with their thoughts and each other. Left to grapple on how to start their lives outside the Facility. 


End file.
